Eight teams remain in the hunt for a Super Bowl title as we head into the divisional round, where the first matchup pits one of two No. 6 seeds to pull off the upset in the first round against the No. 1 seed in the NFC.The have home-field advantage by the slimmest of margins, winning a three-way tiebreaker with the two other NFC teams to own a 13-3 record. The 13-3 team stuck playing on Wild-Card Weekend, the , fell in the first round to the 49ers' divisional-round opponent, the . It took overtime for the Vikings to pull off the win, and just six days later they have to head to the West Coast and try to do it again against a San Francisco team that has been leading or tied with six seconds left in regulation in all three of their lo ses this season.Below, you'll find info on how to watch the game along with what you need to know about the opening and current lines. Then, you'll see our CBSSports.com expert picks, along with some analysis from some of our writers and SportsLine analysts.You can also listen to Pete Prisco, R.J. White and Will
Robert Horry Jersey Brinson make all their picks against the spread on the Pick Six Podcast below ( ). Vikings at 49ersTime:Saturday, 4:35 p.m. ET (NBC), stream on (Try for free) Open:49ers -7, O/U 45.5 Current:49ers -7, O/U 44.5 Pete Prisco Jason La Canfora Will Brinson Jared Dubin Ryan Wilson John Breech Dave Richard Jamey Eisenberg Vikings at 49ers (-7) "The Vikings have a major disadvantage here, having played Sunday on the road and now back out on the road against a team with rest. The 49ers earned that right of the top seed, but it's a big edge for them. Even so, I think the Vikings will hang around here. The Minnesota defense came up big against the Saints and should have succe s slowing the 49ers. But the San Francisco defense is special. Dare I say it: I still think and get the best of it on this day. Upset special." -- Pete Prisco on "One of many regrets from Wild-Card Weekend was me not picking the Vikings to beat the Saints outright. I knew it was po sible, I just didn't believe. Now I might be making another mistake, but I think the Vikings can hang here too. ... This is just the sixth time since 1990 (the current
Jerry West Jersey playoff format) we've seen both No. 6 seeds advance on Wild-Card Weekend, including 2005, 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2018. However, we haven't actually seen a No. 6 seed beat a No. 1 seed in the following week since the 2010 toppled the back in the halcyon Ki s the Ring days of Rex Ryan vs. Bill Belichick. The Vikings profile fairly similarly to that Jets team, with a better offense. I'll take my chances they keep it close and cover." -- Will Brinson on "The matchup here likely comes down to which of the groups in the trenches can win the day. The 49ers
Michael Cooper Jersey ranked eighth in the league in Football Outsiders' Adjusted Line Yards this season, indicating that they got consistently strong blocking up front. They were a bit le s succe sful in power situations (third or fourth down with two or fewer yards to go), ranking 14th with a 67 percent conversion rate. ... When we get to the outside, the speed of the San Francisco offense provides an advantage. Minnesota is down several top cornerbacks now, with only Xavier Rhodes still 'healthy' among the starters, and even he suffered a shoulder injury that clearly bothered him throughout last week's game. Deebo Samuel and Emmanuel Sanders should thus have plus matchups all game. " -- Jared Dubin, , in his in-depth preview of the game"The Vikings answered a lot of questions by going into New Orleans as 7.5-point underdogs and beating the Saints. They beat them because -- in addition to Cousins heating up as the game progre sed -- their defensive front was able to win against the Saints' offensive line. Defensive ends Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter combined for three sacks. What's notable is that the Saints and 49ers finished the regular season with nearly identical pa s-block win rates -- a metric that is used to measure pa s protection. So, Griffen and Hunter should be able to do it again. And it's not like Santa Clara affords the 49ers the same kind of home-field advantage that the Superdome gives the Saints. In short, I think this is a more even game than the line suggests. The Vikings are now 3-0 against the spread when they're underdogs by 3.5 points or more. In a game between two
Tyler Ennis Jersey evenly matched quarterbacks and two good defenses, I'll take the Vikings to keep things close against the 49ers." -- Sean Wagner-McGough on "The quarterback with the bigger question marks in this game might actually be Garoppolo. For one, he's making the first playoff start of his career, which hasn't worked out so well for quarterbacks over the past six years. Since 2013, quarterbacks have gone 6-17 when they're making their first postseason start, including 1-2 this year. The good news for the 49ers is that it might not matter whether or not Garoppolo struggles this week, because they shouldn't really need him to throw the ball. The 49ers rushed for the second most yards in the this year (behind only Baltimore) and now they'll be going up against a Vikings defense that gave up more than 105 yards per game." -- John Breech on The Vikings pulled off the stunner of Wild-Card Weekend by beating the No. 3 seeded Saints in New Orleans. finally got the monkey off his back and was able to produce a signature win, which included a beautiful pa s to in overtime to set up the game-winning touchdown to . While Minnesota may be riding some serious momentum into San Francisco on Saturday, I just don't see lightning striking twice. The 49ers have a tremendous defense (No. 2 in the in DVOA) that can not only disrupt Cousins, but also give him and his receivers fits in the secondary. As for the Niners offense, is making his first postseason start, but has shined when facing elite opponents this season. His yards per attempt increased against playoff opponents this season, he had eight touchdowns to just two picks and the 49ers averaged 30.4 points per game. If that trend continues on offense, I simply just don't see Cousins and the Vikings being able to keep up with that type of production against this sturdy San Fran defense." -- Tyler Sullivan on "As soon as the Vikings upset the Saints on Sunday, I decided I was going to take them to advance to
Kobe Bryant Jersey the NFC title game. But then I reconsidered Kyle Shanahan's offensive strategy and weapons (translation: I got scared) and decided otherwise. That, of course, doesn't even account for San Francisco's vaunted defense, which has the talent to get after Kirk Cousins. In reality, Minnesota should still be competitive here. Dalvin Cook looked fresh as ever in New Orleans, and the Niners are more vulnerable to surrendering points than people realize. is also bound for some playof
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